This plant grows by ripping itself in half

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Comprehensive_Toe113]

This is a lithops.

When they are splitting like the one pictured thier root systems are dormant.

You cannot water it while it is splitting because it'll die. While splitting, the way that it gets nutrients is by cannibalising the outer leaves.

It reabsorbs them, taking the water and nutrients back to feed the new lithops that emerges from the centre.

After the split is done, you can go back to watering as usual.

[u/e-card → u/Comprehensive_Toe113]

Well, how do they know it‘ll not rain while splitting? Are there lithop suicides documented?

[u/DinoRipper24 → u/e-card]

If it rains while splitting, it is at that moment they knew... They messed up. Whoops.

[u/RandonBrando → u/DinoRipper24]

rrrrrriiiiip

"You're probably wondering how I got here..."

[u/DinoRipper24 → u/RandonBrando]

This is a good start to a movie lol it has the potential to become a Halloween classic 😂 PLANT GORE

[u/Seathing → u/e-card]

They wouldn't have evolved that cycle if it wasn't typically dry during the splitting period

[u/omghooker → u/[deleted]]

Congratulations on your butt rock, r/lithops

[u/Tanto_yts → u/[deleted]]

mine split down the middle

[u/Comprehensive_Toe113 → u/[deleted]]

They do.

This one did it wrong.

[u/dinoman9877 → u/Comprehensive_Toe113]

He’s trying his best, okay?!

[u/HamsterTowel → u/[deleted]]

The new growth looks etiolated. I think it's had too much water at the wrong time causing the new growth to grow too quickly and burst out of the side instead of slowly emerging from the top.

[u/HamsterTowel → u/[deleted]]

Hopefully it'll be OK after the new growth settles down. I find it so difficult to water them correctly!

[u/DIOsNotDead → u/Comprehensive_Toe113]

pretty metal of it to self cannibalize while splitting itself in half ngl

[u/DerpsAndRags → u/Comprehensive_Toe113]

I can fuck up a cactus so this sounds like some botany-level hard mode to me.

[u/GottKomplexx → u/DerpsAndRags]

Same. I gave up after the 4th cactus

[u/quilldefender → u/Comprehensive_Toe113]

IS THIS WHY MY LITHIPS KEEP DYING? I got a couple this summer and all but 2 died and I could not figure out why.

[u/Comprehensive_Toe113 → u/quilldefender]

Probably yeah.

Any amount of water is too much because thier root systems are totally dormant

[u/Dripping-Lips → u/Comprehensive_Toe113]

Thanks for this, a bunch of ours are doing this currently

[u/lena_vernon]

Isn’t that kinda how everything grows really tho

[u/red122063]

Wish I could do that

[u/memetoya → u/red122063]

You can, break away from your old self then devour the past to create a new future with the lessons learns.

[u/red122063 → u/memetoya]

I rather eat my dead skin from my past skin use if u don’t mind. Thank you for the advice tho

[u/kukumber_salad → u/[deleted]]

I bet they wish they could do that (Me too)

[u/Azertys → u/red122063]

Yeah, all we get are stretch marks because we grew up too fast.

[u/red122063 → u/Azertys]

What if it’s cause we are secretly trying to rip apart and evolve?

[u/TrafficOnTheTwos]

wtf is it? Strange

[u/CherryBombO_O → u/TrafficOnTheTwos]

It's a succulent from Africa. FR!

[u/psipolnista → u/TrafficOnTheTwos]

Lithops

[u/MagoopyGabooky]

I had one of these years and years ago! It was really cool until my cat filled it with holes and the plant died very quickly after

[u/SFAdminLife]

The common name for these are living stones/lithops. I am very into succulents and have several of these. To get them to sprout from seeds, it can take up to a year!

[u/The_wanderer96]

The Thing

[u/Sasstellia]

What is that plant? It looks like a succulent.

[u/psipolnista → u/Sasstellia]

Lithops or “living stone”.

[u/psipolnista → u/[deleted]]

That’s hilarious. Has it ever flowered for you?

[u/OllieN94]

That plant pot looks like it has heard some absolutely terrifying noises

[u/Himmel_Mancheese]

“It’s not easy being green”

[u/[deleted]]

It looks like two boxing gloves belonging to a cartoon turtle

[u/proknoi]

This is how a lot of soft corals propagate as well. They grow stems and the stems will just break off and become a separate living organism.

[u/PixxxyThicc]

Same

[u/percy1614]

this is almost exactly what happens in The Substance

[u/1nsidiousOne]

Just like me

[u/rslogix89]

r/natureismetal

[u/HamsterTowel]

Never seen a lithops split from the side like that before. Perhaps it was watered at the wrong time? Usually, they get larger by splitting at the top and the two new 'leaves' or whatever they're called, emerge from between the top split.

[u/Stellarella90]

I knew someone that had several small ones in a pot. The way they flower is just so funny looking.

[u/Royweeezy]

I’m really good at killing these.

[u/HamsterTowel → u/Royweeezy]

Me too. I'm in the UK so the growing conditions aren't ideal as I keep mine on an inside windowsill but they still don't get enough heat and light. Too little water and they shrivel up and die. Too much water and they etiolate then die. Keep different species in the same pot and some will die as they all want different amounts of water.

[u/Jackg4te]

:)

[u/SwordTaster]

Mitosis

[u/clandestineVexation]

i fucking LOVE LITHOPS

[u/Sco11McPot]

Olive trees do this as well but over 100 years

[u/Bulky-Finding-5915]

She took the substance

[u/hypotheticaltapeworm]

That's Mara from SMT

[u/Trypanosoma_]

Endodyogeny

[u/JustSyrup9950]

Nature is metal

[u/cpupro]

All growth requires pain.

[u/SweetSilverMoon22]

Oh Same!

[u/ActiveRegent]

mistosis but big

[u/pit_choun]

I have 2 right now! One of them just flowered 😊 I call them "Butts"

[u/pit_choun → u/[deleted]]

It was yellow !!

[u/Intrepid-Look-5181]

r/dontputyourdickinthat 

[u/PomegranateBoring826]

This is entirely fascinating. I did not know this plant did this!

[u/alangeig]

I wonder what it would sound like if the sound could be captured.